DayZ Standalone controls to get you started – A quickie guide

22 Dec 2013 by Paul Younger

DayZ logo 2

For some odd reason I was compelled to play DayZ Standalone for the first time this morning. Having only dabbled a little with the original game it seemed a good idea to find out what Dean Hall and the Bohemia crew have been up to all these months.

Starting out in a really bleak town my objective was to find stuff, any stuff, anything I might need. It’s not easy though if you’re new to the game and have no idea what the controls are.

As this is an Alpha version, documentation is sparse and not all the keys are in the settings panel. To make life a little easier for any new players, here’s a list of the controls you’ll need when starting out.

TAB – Inventory

F – Use Flashlight – You will have to add the battery to the Flashlight first to make it usable. Use SPACE to point it.

Shift – Walk/Run. Double tap shift to continually run.

V – Jump or step over low objects such as fences.

Punch – Hits space to raise hands and left click to punch

1-9 Switch between items in the hotbar.

Weapons – Drag from inventory to action bar. Space to ready weapon. Right click to zoom with the weapon. Rel0ad with middle button

ENTER – Switch betwee 1st and 3rd person

X – Crouch

C – Stand

Z – Go prone

F1 – Emote wave

F2 – Hands up to show you are friendly

F3 – sit down

Middle mouse button – climb down ladders

P- List players

Q – Lean left

E- Lean right

CAPS – Activate mic for voice

/ – Open Chat

I didn’t fare too well this evening, I opened a door just after I spawned and got attacked by a zombie and I started bleeding everywhere. The guy next to me (thankfully he was a friendly chap) told me to strafe and sidestep around the attacker because at the moment they can’t seem to hit when you’re dancing around them. If only I’d known that at the start.